Historically, we have been looking for ways to have people get better sooner from major abdominal surgery, especially intestinal surgery.

A lot people are in denial about it. They look at it as a real negative. It's a coping mechanism and not a positive one.

We're not mourning a loss. We're celebrating a victory: his victory in life over forces that would hurt his people, his victory in terms of letting us know that love is more powerful than hate.

The theory behind the paper is that actual chewing stimulates a neuronal and hormonal reflex that helps to awaken the gut. Certainly, there's a great deal of appeal to that theory.

It's a nice study and I'm probably going to end up saying if you want to chew gum, chew gum. I don't think gum is the magic bullet, but it can't hurt.

It certainly is very appealing and cheap to do. Although I'm not a huge believer that this is going to change the world, I certainly am going to offer gum to people in my own practice. There's really no downside.